A Throne From the Ashes (An Heir Comes to Rise, #3)

by C.C. Peñaranda

Hmm new character?

“Malin will get what’s coming to him. Nether hath no fury like a pissed-off Faythe Ashfyre.” Kyleer shot her a wink, but the look of pride in his eye swelled in her chest.

Tynan grinned wickedly when she stopped her shockwaves, and he released a hard breath. “I do love it when you play dirty.” His voice was a caress.

“You seem feistier than usual tonight. I’m more than happy to oblige if you’re in need of…release,” he taunted. Zaiana didn’t react to his attempt to degrade her. Her eyes flashed down then back up to meet his. She scoffed. “You can keep that disappointment for those you bribe to warm your bed.”

She moved on instinct, becoming the blade that rose and fell, twisted and turned, unfaltering, unflinching.

“On the order of myself.” His firm voice left no room for dispute. “Second to those of Faythe Ashfyre.” Snapping her head to him, Faythe’s chest burst with pride. Reylan hadn’t overpowered her; he’d matched her rank. More than that—he’d asserted his own power of authority as beneath hers.

PAINNNNNNN

“You will make a gracious queen, Tauria Stagknight—one history will remember for millennia.” Marlowe’s smile was warm but saddened.

Nik looked around them all, pride swelling in his chest at their fierce and protective gazes. In each of them was a warrior, not just a friend. For each other, for their kingdoms, for what was right in the world, they were willing to risk it all.

“You may wear the crown for us all, but no kingdom was ever run by one person alone.”

Hierarchy was foolish, determined by birthright instead of fitness to rule.

All creatures had desires, even one as cold, brutal, and heartless as she. Zaiana had ended countless lives without thought, without hesitation. She was a monster of the most dangerous kind: a beast behind beauty. Yet sometimes…she wished she could be different. She wished she could care.

She chose to take confidence in her decision as six became seven once again.

Omg was Finnian the previous 7th??

I LOVE THEM

THIS IS TRUE LOVE

“You and Caius…your dreams aligned. He gave his life so you could carry them on; so you could see them answered. You fought, and you survived. You deserve to live, Faythe. Live, and make every life that was taken too soon count for something. That’s how we go on.”

Imagine each of them as your death approaching, and make it known it won’t claim you today.”

You’ve protected her, and I know you want to shield her from it, but you may need to be willing to let her go so she can rise to be the queen she is supposed to be.”

If there was a chance she could find happiness with another, find the dedication she deserved, perhaps letting her go was the best way—the only way—he could truly show his love for her.

Maverick’s smile was devious where he leaned against a bulge in the cavernous stone wall, hands in his pockets as he watched her.

Sluttiest thing a man can do part 2!!

He didn’t respond with words. Instead, he peeled himself from the wall, not taking his eyes off hers. His mouth curled in feline delight as he reached for the buttons of his tailored jacket.

Uh oh, my legs suddenly got shaky

He knows EXACTLY what he's doing

It was one guilty pleasure they shared. As creatures born to feel nothing, they indulged in the opportunity to feel something.

Tresses of his thick midnight hair curled over his forehead, and a small dimple indented his cheek on one side. As it always did when he wore the taunting smirk she hated. Hated because it was a sign of the unique amusement he got from her alone. And for her own thoughts that scattered for a split second when she saw it.

She quickly slipped into a robe that hid the lattice of her back and chest at least then snatched up her clothes, making to leave as his voice traveled to her with a darkness that swept a shudder over her body. “Which of them hurt you?”

AHHHHHHHH. when i tell you I am weak for this trope, I MEAN it.

I’d never felt accepted by anything until I found out what it was like to lose oneself in the wonders of a story. Lose, only to emerge from the pages so much clearer about who I was.”

MY HEART

“To have Faythe: to live like death is a game, love is a prize, and danger is desire.”

Nik didn’t move, in complete terror that he might be conjuring her image on his own, a cruel trick of his desperate mind. But Faythe’s brow pinched together, and a shallow cry left her that felt like a tear within himself. It was enough for him to know Faythe was real. She was here.

“I’m looking forward to watching you do what you do best,” Maverick said. She wouldn’t have reacted to it as she was stilling her mind to a lethal calm for combat, but curiosity got the better of her when she swore among the taunting and arrogance that the twinkle in his eye was genuine admiration. “And what might that be?” The curl of Maverick’s mouth was devastating. “Making it storm.”

“I will kill you, Maverick. Maybe not today, nor in a hundred years, but I will. I hope you spend the rest of your life watching your back for me, because I will always be there. Waiting. A shadow that lingers even in the dark.”

Faythe had made it clear she had to go now, and that Reylan would be going with her. She was already with the one who would protect her like no other.

“Can I ask for something?” Her voice was hushed, uncertain. His chest rose and fell deeply, not breaking her hypnotizing stare as he got out, “Anything.” Tauria’s throat shifted as she swallowed, and he couldn’t help but tune in to her heartbeat as it picked up tempo. The few seconds she deliberated continuing with her request were maddening. “Kiss me.”

“If I kiss you, Tauria…I won’t be able to stop.” They shared a breath, and he swore he felt the tightening of her legs around him that made him force back a groan. “I don’t want you to.”

“I don’t know what they’ll offer you. I don’t know if I can compete. But what I promise you is that you will never need to commit yourself to marriage or surrender anything in return for High Farrow’s protection and allegiance. I will respect your choice and what you need to do for the good of your kingdom. But know, should you ever change your mind, you can always come home.”

Tauria was strong and resilient and smart. He had to believe she could take care of herself, and if her position became compromised, he would storm Olmstone with everything he had. It was a harrowing thought, but if they threatened to harm her, he would incite a war.

“Dark and mysterious turns out to have a soft side. He was calm in explaining what he was and what he needed of me. You can imagine my shock. I might not have believed him until he showed me his wings. It’s truly astounding.”

“You’ve let the win go to your head if you think I’ll submit to the same obedience as your dogs,” he rumbled, voice quiet but firm. “I will honor your victory, and by that I mean I will yield to you. But try to mock me, belittle me, in front of your underlings, and I think you’ll find yourself on a field where there are no rules and you might not emerge so triumphant.”

“Take care of her, and both of you come home.” Agalhor’s words were hushed, for Reylan directly, though it tugged her heart to hear them.

“You are more than I could have wished for in this life, Faythe. And I know…I know you have it in you to change the world. Not with the power you wield or the crown that may befall you, but with that golden heart that sings in your chest. For what is good, for what is right, and for what is fair.” Faythe was transfixed by his fierce eyes. They struck her to listen; to absorb every word as though it were the truth. “But sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. Watch the world burn and then rise from the ashes.”

Kyleer reached them first, and Faythe observed his hand as it fell to Livia’s back. Her stiff shoulders loosened.

“Do not pray to the Gods who have left you at the mercy of monsters like us.”

He was wicked, evil, and brilliant. Her enemy…but her equal.

“Your fascination is a question—one you’ve harbored your whole life. Don’t stop looking for the answer.”

“In Ungardia’s darkest hour, when all shall burn and fall, only the Phoenix Queen can find a throne from the ashes, and rise it true for all.”

“I don’t mourn the time I’ll miss; I rejoice in the time I had.”

Her lips upturned. “Of course, you only delight in suffering and wretched things.” He smirked. “I only delight in dark and beautiful things.”

“The depraved things I’ve dreamed of doing to you, Zaiana,” he said huskily. The impression of his eyes crawled her skin delightfully. His words were almost her undoing. “Do them all.”

They were darkness on darkness. Fire on fire. Together, they could blissfully destroy each other and the world in their wake.

Zaiana took a few calming seconds to avoid doing something reckless at the opposition that surfaced naturally, effortlessly, between them. They were an eruption of conflict and chaos. Deadly alone, but utterly fatal together.